T49 (Tinyana) PNC - Shev Ve-al Ta'aseh; Teshuvah Ha-Shleimah at the Same Place; Yetzer for Tefillah

Given Hashem's greatness and the essence of His exaltedness, the slightest improper movement or glance would suffice for what 'should' come upon a person — chas ve-shalom, chas ve-shalom. But Hashem is full of mercy; the whole world is full of His rachmanus; He greatly desires the world. So strengthen yourself in His service with whatever you can — even if you are as you are — and rely on His unlimited mercies; He certainly will not abandon you, even after what passed. The past is past; the principle is from now on do not do it anymore, and at least be 'shev

ve-al ta'aseh' — sit and do not do — both in deed and in thought. For thought, in such people, is itself a deed, since in olam ha-asiyah there is also machshavah; one must be 'shev ve-al ta'aseh' in deed and in thought. And whatever happens to him automatically — do not be concerned, do not look at it at all. The main complete teshuvah is when a person actually passes through the same places where he was before his teshuvah, each according to what passed over him in his earlier days — and now, in the very same places and matters where he was at first, he turns his back on them and subdues his yetzer not to do anymore what he did. This is the essence of teshuvah ha-shleimah — only this is called teshuvah.

It is a great virtue when a person still has a yetzer ha-ra, for then he can serve Him precisely with the yetzer — by taking all its fervor and warmth and channeling it into avodas Hashem: praying and beseeching with the warmth and burning of the heart. If a person has no yetzer ha-ra, his service is not complete at all. The essence is to restrain and hold back the heat at the time of desire, and to release it during tefillah and avodah — there to lay his fervor and burning into the service. Even one who is not a kosher person sometimes finds himself praying with hislahavus, and this also comes from the warmth of his yetzer ha-ra — only he receives no reward for it. But for one who wants to conduct himself in kashrus, having a yetzer ha-ra still alive is a great advantage.